British GP: Verstappen top again in FP2 from Sainz and Albon

Red Bull's Max Verstappen continued to dominate proceedings at Silverstone, claiming the top spot again in second practice albeit this time from Ferrari's Carlos Sainz - and only by a slender 0.022s.

Alex Albon continued to surprise and impress, taking third for the second session in a row for Williams ahead of Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull. And Albon's team mate Logan Sargeant was himself a stunning fifth fastest.

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton seemed to be struggling with the latest upgrades on the Mercedes, and Lando Norris had his hands full with the McLaren. But Charles Leclerc was worse off, suffering an electrical issue on the Ferrari which sidelined him for the entire session.

• 2023 British Grand Prix - Free Practice 2 results

A hot English summer's afternoon greeted the drivers as they headed out onto the track at Silverstone for the second time, for another hour-long practice session ahead of the British Grand Prix. Max Verstappen had stamped his authority on FP1 with nearly half a second in hand over his Red Bull team mate, while Williams' Alex Albon had been the surprise element in third ahead of Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari). Elsewhere, Mercedes and Aston Martin were busy unwrapping their new upgrades and trying them on for size.

The start of FP2 was delayed by five minutes due to barrier repairs being required following an extended qualifying session for the Formula 2 support race. The teams were quick to get back to it when the lights did finally go green at the end of pit lane, with AlphaTauri's Nyck de Vries leading the way and setting the first time of the session with a lap of 1:31.091s. That was soon bettered by Alonso and Alpine pair Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, who were kitted out with a revised front wing main plane on the A523.

Oscar Piastri went quickest with a time of 1:30.027s after his first practice had been cut short due to a hydraulic leak. He wasn't leading for long, as the Red Bulls were stampeding with Verstappen staking his claim to the top spot with 1:29.550s, leading Perez by almost an identical margin to where they had finished the first session. Carlos Sainz was just fifth for Ferrari after his first run ahead of George Russell, Lando Norris and Albon, while Lewis Hamilton had to abort his first run over running wide. But there was a no show from Charles Leclerc as Ferrari hunted down an electric gremlin on the SF-23.

Piastri moved up to split the Bulls with his second effort, while Hamilton squeezed into third ahead of Perez with his next run. But Perez responded to go top with a new time of 1:29.451s, as Gasly improved to third ahead of Piastri and Hamilton - despite being on the hard compound tyre, unlike those around him. Norris was on the same compound but still found enough pace on his latest run to tuck into fifth behind his McLaren team mate and ahead of Hamilton.

Sainz was next to seize the initiative and go quickest with a time of 1:29.083s, although he had previously had a moment at Stowe as the car got twitchy and briefly sent him off the track. Alonso was then the first driver to be sent out on the soft compound as Aston Martin turned its attention to qualifying simulations, with Red Bull having similar thoughts. Alonso's run was good enough for second place, 0.051s behind Sainz on the mediums, but then it was Verstappen going a full second faster and Perez doing well to go most of the way with him to retake second.

The achievement was slightly diminished from Perez' perspective by Alex Albon taking the spot away from him, the Thai driver having similarly moved to softs on the Williams and team mate Logan Sargeant also into the top five. Sainz responded, having himself transitioned onto the red-walled compound which allowed him to get within 0.022s of Verstappen. However Alonso's attempt was thwarted with a problem on the Aston's front left from debris, while Lance Stroll was currently sixth but heading back to pit lane with a broken mirror: "It just snapped!" he reported, which is racing driver parlance for "it wasn't me, I didn't do anything, it wasn't my fault!"

The Brits were struggling, with Hamilton launched into the air running over the kerbs and unable to improve on P14, while Norris was finding the MCL60 to be something of a handful as he was left in 15th place. Best of the compatriots was Russell, and he was himself suffering from low grip on the soft compound and still running outside the the top ten. "Sliding all over the place," he reported. But at least they were all faring better than Leclerc, who was still unable to leave the garage as the Ferrari engineers continued to work feverishly on his car.

By now the focus was on long distance tyre runs meaning that there were little chance for changes to the order, although Alfa Romeo's Zhou Guanyu was able to improve to P11 in the closing minutes. It left Nico Hulkenberg in seventh ahead of Gasly, Piastri and Alonso in tenth when the chequered flag came out. There had been no major incidents although de Vries twice went for a spin before calling it a day, the latter mishap blamed on a puncture due to debris meaning he was unable to take part in the practice starts after the finish.

Whether today's glorious conditions will continue into the rest of the weekend remains a matter of lively debate, with forecasts suggesting rain and even thunderstorms for at least part of Saturday, and showers potentially hitting Sunday's race as well. But the question of if that could possibly prevent Red Bull continuing its run of dominant victories in 2023 is still very much up in the air.

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